Tugging and Pushing
by Ceresava
Summary: CATS It's a tugger bomba fic that will be the basis for Ceresava and Doppleteaser's life stories. It'll be two or three parts, so far this is undetermined. T rating is just in case.


Tugging and Pushing

By Ceresava

"For I only like… what I find for myself." Bombalurina suddenly found herself falling, and soon my face was against the cold ground. She snarled before dragging herself away behind an old oven, not wanting to be seen again.

"It's horrible, the way he treats you like that." The red queen jumped, and then turned to see her best friend lurking behind the oven as well. She stood up and walked to Demeter.

"I know. I should hate him." Demeter was silent for a second.

"Then why do you love him?" Her eyes shut tight. Bomba shook her head for Demeter to stop talking, but she refused to. 'Dam stubborn queen.' Bomba thought to herself with a mental smile.

"He's horrible to you, and you still go crawling back to him, every time." She put her paw up for her to stop. She did not.

"And you know the Tugger. He only wants what he doesn't have." Bomba's eyes shot open again. 'She may be annoying sometimes, but Demeter is really smart.' She said to herself, pondering what the calico said for a second, sorting out her emotions.

"You know what I think?" She shook her head, but mostly to humor her friend. Whatever she was thinking, though, it was wrong.

"I think that if he can't respect me, he doesn't deserve me." Demeter looked as if she would jump for joy.

"Oh, Bomba, I'm so glad you finally figured it out." Bomba nodded.

"Right. We're over now." Even though she said this to Demeter, she was not sure it was exactly true. She just could not let her best friend down now.

Jemima suddenly found herself pinned to the ground by her white friend.

"Vic, get off me, you're twice my size!" She complained loudly. Victoria apologized quickly and shifted her weight so Jemima could escape.

"Did you hear?" The white queen asked loudly.

"Hear what?" Jemima stood and dusted herself off.

"Bomba broke up with Tugger." Jemima shot her friend a confused look.

"But, they weren't going out?" Victoria shrugged.

"She said she was done with him. She didn't look like she meant it, though." Jemima nodded. "I want to get them together." Victoria added suddenly. Jemima gave her a skeptical look. "It's for the greater good! Everyone knows they love each other, but they're both to stubborn and prideful to admit it."

"I guess, but what can we do?" She asked, batting at a piece of dust.

"Well, I talked to Pounce, and he said he'd help." Jemima gave her a quizzical look.

"Well, Pounce can ask Bomba out, and I can get the Tugger to ask me out. That will be easy enough. We can take them to the same place and then ditch them there so-"

"They can rip each other's eyes out?" She said dryly. Victoria let out a small sound of stress.

"You never know, it might work." The white queen stood quietly.

"Or, they might rip each other's eyes out." Jemima whispered, not really wanting to anger her friend.

Bombalurina and Pounce were standing on a cliff overlooking the city, chatting. Bomba was having a good time, but Pounce was getting antsier by the second. Victoria and Tugger had not shown up yet. What had happened to them? He did not enjoy lying, and sitting here with Bomba, most of what came out of his mouth was lies. Finally, at around midnight, he spotted Victoria's slender white figure in the distance. She sat down next to them, and Tugger followed her, eyeing Bomba nervously.

"It's really lovely out tonight, isn't it?" Victoria said after greeting Pounce and Bomba. The others nodded quietly.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Pouncival asked, slightly louder than normal. 'As if it isn't obvious…' He thought, waiting for Victoria's reply.

"Oh, we're on a date." She said nonchalantly. Pounce panicked slightly. They had not figured out exactly how they would leave Tugger and Bomba behind casually.

"Hey, did you still want me to teach you that dance?" He blurted out.

"What dance? Oh, that dance… that you wanted to show me." She said, catching on a few words to late. They stood up and bustled away, shamefaced at the obviousness of their plan.

"Kittens…" Bomba muttered as she stood up. Tugger looked up at her.

"Uh, wait. Where are you going?" He asked, almost awkwardly.

"Home. Why, did you want me to stay?" She said, turning her back to him.

"Well, it'd be nice… I'd like to talk with you." Bomba rolled her eyes and sat down again. It was silent for a moment.

"Well, what did you want to talk about?" She asked impatiently.

"Well, I didn't exactly know wha-"

"Okay. Remember your song at the ball a few nights ago? Let's talk about that." His face fell slightly. 'Uh-oh.' He thought as she fell silent again.

"Uh, about that...I wanted to say-" She interrupted me again.

"Yeah, about that. You embarrassed me in front of everyone. You went just a little too far. I may have loved you before, but you ruined it. I have changed my mind about you. And? I never want to see you again. I hate you." She flared, standing up. She expected him to brush it off, and his response came as a shock to her. He stood slowly, a single tear rolling down his face, and fell to the ground. He turned and left quickly, praying she had not seen.

As the tear hit the ground, Bomba felt her heart die a little. He was _crying_. The Rum Tum Tugger, crying. Over her. She flexed her paws and stood there for a short moment before speaking again.

"Tugger- wait…" But he was gone already. She sighed and slowly made her way back to the Junkyard, and then headed straight for Demeter's house.

Demeter sighed and shook her head. Her friend had been constantly prattling almost incoherent nonsense for two nights straight, now, only stopping to sleep and sometimes pick at the rats that Dem caught for her. She refused to explain exactly what was wrong, but the black and gold queen had a pretty good idea of what was troubling her.

"Here, Bombie, put this on your eyes. They're swollen." Bombalurina sputtered her protests before taking the scrap of damp fabric from her.

"Now that you've calmed down, care to tell me what's wrong, love?" Demeter asked, placing herself on an old book placed at the back of her oven. Bomba shook her head and sighed deeply, before contemplating her thoughts, and then speaking.

"Well, you know my date with Pouncival?" Dem cut her off immediately, reprimanding her for her poor choices.

"It didn't go well? Oh, I told you he was too young for you, love, you really should-"

"No, the date with Pouncival was fine. Then Victoria showed up with Tugger and-" Demeter cut her off again, this time chattering about the Tugger and how he got around.

"Demi, stop! He's not so bad, I don't think he really wanted to be with Vicki…" Demeter licked her lips, thinking.

"You… still love him, don't you?" Bomba nodded slowly, waiting for her response. She sighed and shook her head, motioning for her to continue.

"Well, Pouncival and Vicki ditched us, and then…" She choked back tears. Dem laid a gold paw on her fiery red coat, stroking her head soothingly. As she collected herself, she began to speak again through sobs. "He tried to- to apologize, I think-k… and… and… I just- just… yelled at him…"

Demeter rolled her eyes, hoping the red queen hadn't seen her rude action. Her casual attitude was thrown off by her next words.

"And... he cried." Demeter suppressed a surprised giggled, picturing THE Rum Tum Tugger bawling like a baby over her best friend.

"Go on," She prompted, managing to suppress the singsong tone in her voice.

"Well, when he cried, it felt like someone was ripping my heart out." She said, looking at her paws and flexing them as she had a few nights ago. "And then, he ran away." Demeter nodded.

"That's not really like him, is it?" Bombalurina broke out wailing again.

"He cared, Demeter, I thought he didn't and he did..." Demeter handed her the damp cloth again, watching Bomba clean her face.

"So, go apologize to him. You obviously didn't mean what you said, so tell him that." She said thoughtfully, washing her own face with her free paw.

"I- well- it's just..." She stuttered, dropping the rag.

"Do you love him?" She nodded. "Then go!" Demeter pushed Bomb off her shoulder, where she had been crying.

"I can't go like this!" She whined. Her eyes were red from tears and her fur matted and damp from the cloth.

"Here, I'll help you clean up." Demeter offered kindly, picking the rag up again.

Bomba wandered through the Junkyard, fairly unsure of her way. She was getting looks and glances from everyone, she hadn't been out in days and looked great- Demeter had cleaned her fur with shampoo, and it flowed neatly around her form, unmated and shiny, the color of fire in the dead of night. She was enjoying the attention, but not forgetting what she was out to do. She walked slowly, more trying to avoid Tugger than find him. As she walked through a group of female kittens, Victoria spoke to her loudly.  
"The Tugger's over there, he's looking for you." A grin spread across her pure white face as Bomba rolled her eyes.

"Oh, really?" She asked, almost bitterly, walking in the direction Vicki had pointed in. Composing herself, Bomba jumped up the piles of trash, landing on a sort of cliff fashioned in junk, on which an old chair rested. Tugger was sitting on it, and he noticed her as she jumped up onto the ledge.

"Bomba...lurina." He said, sidestepping the fact that he had used her nickname awkwardly. He nodded. "You look nice." He mumbled. Bomba felt fire burn in her throat, and was tempted to utter any word of hate, but bit her tongue. She'd regret anything ill-toned she said today, and she knew it.

As she moved to sit next to him, her untangled coat flowed smoothly.

"Demeter washed you." He said with a chuckle, thinking of all the times she'd offered to clean him or Munkustrap- for a ball or another celebration, bragging her skills. Bomba nodded, admiring her own coat rather vainly.

"You do look beautiful." He said quietly, laying his head on his paws.

"Thank you." Bomba said, her eyes trailing out to the Junkyard. "You can see everything from here…" She said quietly, laying down as well, beside the chair.

"I watched you sing from here…" The words slipped from his mouth.  
"Just me?" She asked, a smirk crossing her face.

"You dance very well."

"Thank you, that's sweet." She shifted slightly to make herself comfortable. There was a long silence.

"Etcetera is so cute…" Bomba's paws clenched, but she rolled over and walked to the edge of the cliff to humor him. Cettie was curled up with Misto in one corner of the junkyard, curled up and apparently oblivious to anyone else. Bomba looked up to Tugger as he sighed.

"You'll miss her, won't you?" He sat up at her words.

"No, she's rather annoying. Besides, she never loved me." Bomba withdrew from the cliff and lay down again.

"Tugger…" She said, inhaling sharply. "A few days ago, at that cliff that overlooks the city?" He nodded. "I meant what I said. Every word of it and-"

"You can stop," He suggested, hoping off the chair.

"No, let me finish. I meant every word of what I said and I really did never want to see you again-"

"I can leave." He said, nodding toward the winding path down to the junkyard. Bomba was impressed. 'He may be stubborn, but he sure knows when he's lost…' She thought with a smirk before going on.

"-But only because I thought you didn't care about me. When I saw you crying I-"

"You saw?" He complained quietly.

"Yes, I saw." She snapped. "Do you ever let anyone else talk? When I saw you crying, I realized I made a mistake. And I don't mean it anymore." She added quickly, swallowing hard before turning her eyes away to watch the sunrise.

Tugger's eyes, meanwhile, lingered on her coat. The first light of day sparkled through her newly cleaned coat, making it dazzle like fire in the dead of night. He turned his head away as she looked up.

"Well, Dem will worry if I stay out much longer." She said, standing.

"Paranoid little queen, that one." Bomba turned to him and smiled.

"Really." Then she slipped through the rubbish piles back to the junkyard.

"You look happy." Demeter commented as she mended her loveworn pillow with a bit of fish bone and old string. (A/N NOT that kind of loveworn, you perverts.)

"I am." She said, collapsing on her own pillow in the corner of Demeter's oven.

"Your chat with the Tugger went well then?" She asked as she smooth the fabric she had just stitched up, placing it on the ground next to Bomba's and sitting down primly.

"Well enough, I think. He's not mad at me at all." Demeter pulled a face.

"Typically when someone breaks your heart and then shows up out of nowhere to talk to you, you're not mad at them." She said, laying her head on her paws.

"Do you think he'll be mad at me?" Bomba asked, her eyes going slightly wider.

"Did you apologize?"

"Yes- well, sort of. I said I didn't mean it." Demeter nodded. "I was going to say sorry… it just didn't come out."

"That's alright. He doesn't deserve an apology." Bomba laughed half-heartedly, then shook her head.

"That's not true. I should probably go talk to him." Demeter sighed loudly.

"Again? Look, if he really loves you, he'll come to you." Bomba gazed at her for a long moment then nodded slowly.

"Right, wake me up at sunset, will you?" Demeter smiled.

"Can do, Bombie."

Tugger was pacing around Misto's old car boot absently. His friend was watching him with tired eyes.

"What's your problem?" He asked after about fifteen minutes of pacing and silence.

"Whaddaya mean?" Tugger stopped pacing and sat next to the small black tom, who was now grooming himself idly as he chatted.

"Look, nobody goes to their best friend's house to pace for a quarter hour straight unless they have a problem." Tugger sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"She hates me." Misto sat up straighter all of a sudden, a deeply amused expression on his face.

"I don't think there's a queen in this junkyard who hates you, Tug." He said, tilting his head slightly.

"Bombalurina-"

"Except her, possibly."

"You're not helping, Misto." Tugger said crossly.

"Oh, now you want help?" He asked boredly, flicking at a piece of suddenly airborne fuzz.

"Yes… Bomba, I think she hates me. But I like her- more than any other queen…" He couldn't believe he had just said that aloud, in front of Misto, of all cats. He was instantly in stitches on the floor next to him.

"You're… in… love?" He gasped between breaths. Tugger was becoming cross with his small friend.

"It's not funny, Misto. After all, you're in love too." Misto immediately sobered.

"Don't tell anyone." He demanded quickly.

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul… except maybe Victoria…" Misto jumped to his feet, almost frantic.

"Oh, Victoria! She'd kill me… promise me you won't tell, Tugger…" He laughed loudly.

"Of course not, but the same goes for you…" Misto nodded violently. "Now, will you help me out a bit, friend?"

"Of course. What's the problem, exactly?"

"She hasn't talked to me in awhile… after the ball, we ran into each other at the cliff that overlooks the city, and I'm pretty sure she broke my heart-" More uncontrollable giggles from Misto. Tugger chose to ignore him and continued. "And then about a week about she told me she didn't mean it and then left."

"Did you give her an answer?" Misto asked, a smirk still firmly planted across his face.

"No, she just left."

"Well then, go apologize!" He prompted, pointing to the door.

"The Rum Tum Tugger doesn't apologize-"

"But he does have his heart broken by young, good looking, red queens?" Tugger stared at him for a long while, emotions flitting between anger and realization.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. I should go talk to her." Misto patted his friend on the back.

"Good luck, then." As Tugger left he was certain he heard the black cat crack up again as soon as he was out of the box.


End file.
